<< Season 1926-27 >>

Reading's first season in Division 2 saw them finish in 14th position, what was to be their highest position for over sixty years. The club finally got round to appointing a full-time manager in Angus Wylie, although the board of directors still picked the team.

The season was also notable for what remains Reading's best ever FA Cup run, reaching the semi-final. First division Manchester United were beaten at the third attempt in the third round. The fifth round tie against Brentford attracted Elm Park's largest ever crowd, 33,042. A win at Swansea in the quarter-final set up a semi-final against more Welsh opposition, Cardiff, the game being played at Molineux in front of a crowd of 39,478. However Cardiff ran out 3-0 winners, mainly due to two uncharacteristic errors by Billy McConnell, and went on to beat Arsenal in the final to take the FA Cup out of England for the only time.

Division 2 (14th) 

                        PL  HW HD HL  HF  HA  AW AD AL  AF  AA  PTS     H    A  
 1. Middlesbrough       42  18  2  1  78  23   9  6  6  44  37   62    2-1  0-5 
 2. Portsmouth          42  14  4  3  58  17   9  4  8  29  32   54    1-2  0-5 
 3. Manchester C        42  15  3  3  65  23   7  7  7  43  38   54    1-0  0-3 
 4. Chelsea             42  13  7  1  40  17   7  5  9  22  35   52    2-1  0-0 
 5. Nottingham F        42  14  6  1  57  23   4  8  9  23  32   50    4-0  1-5 
 6. Preston NE          42  14  4  3  54  29   6  5 10  20  43   49    3-0  1-3 
 7. Hull City           42  13  4  4  43  19   7  3 11  20  33   47    0-1  1-1 
 8. Port Vale           42  11  6  4  50  26   5  7  9  38  52   45    2-0  1-1 
 9. Blackpool           42  13  5  3  65  26   5  3 13  30  54   44    0-1  1-3 
10. Oldham Athletic     42  12  3  6  50  37   7  3 11  24  47   44    6-1  1-3 
11. Barnsley            42  13  5  3  56  23   4  4 13  32  64   43    3-2  2-2 
12. Swansea Town        42  13  5  3  44  21   3  6 12  24  51   43    3-0  0-3 
13. Southampton         42   9  8  4  35  22   6  4 11  25  40   42    1-0  1-1 
14. READING             42  14  1  6  47  20   2  7 12  17  52   40
15. Wolverhampton W     42  10  4  7  54  30   4  3 14  19  45   35    1-2  1-1 
16. Notts County        42  11  4  6  45  24   4  1 16  25  72   35    7-1  0-2 
17. Grimsby Town        42   6  7  8  39  39   5  5 11  35  52   34    1-1  1-0 
18. Fulham              42  11  4  6  39  31   2  4 15  19  61   34    2-0  2-1 
19. South Shields       42  10  8  3  49  25   1  3 17  22  71   33    2-1  0-3 
20. Clapton Orient      42   9  3  9  37  35   3  4 14  23  61   31    0-1  1-5 
21. Darlington          42  10  3  8  53  42   2  3 16  26  56   30    4-2  2-4 
22. Bradford City       42   6  4 11  30  28   1  5 15  20  60   23    2-3  1-1

FA Cup 

R1     WeymouthS         H  D  4-4
R1(R)  WeymouthS         H  W  5-0 *
R2     Southend Utd3     H  W  3-2
R3     Manchester Utd1   H  D  1-1
R3(R)  Manchester Utd1   A  D  2-2 *
R3(2R) Manchester Utd1   *  W  2-1
R4     Portsmouth2       H  W  3-1
R5     Brentford3        H  W  1-0
R6     Swansea Town2     A  W  3-1
SF     Cardiff City1     *  L  0-3

       * switched from Weymouth, given as 5-4 in DRFC
       * after extra time
       * at Villa Park, Birmingham
       * at Molineux, Wolverhampton